Brownback: Chris Hill was ‘evasive and unprofessional’ in his dealings with Congress
Senator Sam Brownback has come out against Chris Hill’s nomination to be U.S. Ambassador to Iraq:
I am deeply concerned about the possibility of Assistant Secretary Hill serving in the crucial post of Ambassador to Iraq,” Brownback said. “While I commend Mr. Hill for his long and dedicated career in the Foreign Service, I believe that his lack of any Middle East experience, and his evasive and unprofessional dealings with Congress, make him a poor choice for leading our largest, and most important embassy in the world at a pivotal time for American diplomacy in Iraq. I urge the President to reconsider this nomination. [Press Release, Senator Sam Brownback]
I see I’m not the only one questioning Hill’s integrity.
I wonder if Brownback will be the only one. Hill made enemies in both parties, for example, when he — along with the rest of the Bush Administration — withheld information from Congress about North Korea’s proliferation to Syria. Of course, a congressman can’t hold a nomination, but one senator is all it takes.
Obama is invested in gradual failure in Iraq. Hill is his excuse for things unraveling there.
As an OIF vet and someone serving in USFK now, I could not be more disgusted. Sen. Brownback is 100% correct.
Failure should have consequences…
And from what little I’ve read over the last few years, you can place the blame for the failure of North Korea policy at the feet of Hill and Condie Rice and thus Bush.
As I understand it, Hill was a leader in getting Bush to flipflop on the pressure tactics and arm’s length dealing with Pyongyang that characterized most of Bush’s time in office.
If it had worked, then more power to him — give him more responsibility. But it failed miserably. It was a set back. And it is so hard to find a way to get movement out of Pyongyang, set backs are particularly bitter to swallow.
Given the level of failure — putting him in Iraq makes no sense, and I’m glad some are fighting the move.
usinkorea, not to sharpshoot you, but the Lion’s share of blame should be pinned on the decade of South Korean pollyanna “sunshine policy” and not on the Bush administration alone which had to deal with the appeasing lefties. Maintaining the alliance while dingleberries like Roh were in office made it difficult to take a hard line tack against the DPRK. I’m not exonnerating Rice/Bush, but let’s at least place them in the context of having to ally with arch-appeasers who were finally voted out of power.